PIS'MENNYE
PAMYATNIKI
VOSTOKA

Vol. 18, No. 3 (46)
Autumn 2021

Journal based in 2004
Issued quarterly

Full text as a *.PDF file

PUBLICATIONS
HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, PHILOLOGY

Peter Zieme. Maitreya and the Religious Situation according to Two Old Uighur Poems of Yuan Dynasty. Edition of SI 4485 and SI 4958 — 5
This paper offers the edition of SI 4485 and SI 4958, two manuscripts of the Old Uighur section of the Serindia Collection of the IOM written in alliterating verses. Their contents are praises on Maitreya, the future Buddha. The author tries to show why praises on Maitreya like the two presented here were written. He argues that it was to advocate the preservation of Buddhism through proving the superiority of the Maitreya cult over other religions in the current viral times of the Yuan.
Key words: Serindia Collection, Old Uighur, Maitreya cult, praises

Simone-Christiane Raschmann. New Traces of Old Uighur Vinaya Literature — 17
Only a few remnants of the ancient Uighur Vinaya literature have survived. The incomplete state of the two fragments presented here does not allow any firm statements to be made about a specific textual affiliation, but the textual preservation clearly points to an affiliation with Vinaya literature. The aim of this first publication is, on the one hand, to make other Old Uighur Vinaya text fragments known and, on the other hand, to stimulate discussion of the content.
Key words: Vinaya literature, Old Uighur Buddhist literature, pātayantika, Prātimokṣasūtra

Tatiana A. Pang. The Manchu-Chinese Diploma Gaoming 誥命 from the Collection of Nikolai P. Likhachev — 25
The Chinese collection of the IOM RAS keeps the Manchu-Chinese diploma from the former Museum of Paleography, which was founded by Nikolai P. Likhachev in 1925. The Museum was closed in 1930, and manuscripts in Oriental languages were sent to the nowadays IOM RAS. Among these manuscripts was the Manchu-Chinese diploma dated 1682. It bestowed the civil official Yatu the 4th rank title zhongxian dafu, and his wife from the Tunggo clan a corresponding title. The article publishes the diploma and its Russian translation from Chinese and Manchu.
Key words: Qing dynasty, Kangxi, Manchu-Chinese diploma, gaoming, N. P. Likhachev, Manchu manuscripts

RESEARCH WORKS
HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, PHILOLOGY

Nicholas Sims-Williams. A Buddhist Technical Term in Christian Sogdian — 32
A Buddhist technical term in Christian Sogdian. This article surveys the Indian (Sanskrit and Prakrit) loanwords used in the Christian literature in Sogdian, including some which have not been noticed previously. In particular, it discusses a possible borrowing of the Buddhist Sanskrit technical term citta-saṃtāna-, used in a Christian Sogdian text in the sense “train of thought”. Finally, it raises the question whether snks’r, the Buddhist Sogdian equivalent of Sanskrit saṃsāra- “cycle of existence”, may result from a confusion between this term and saṃskāra- “conditioned state”.
Key words: Christian Sogdian, Buddhist Sanskrit, loanwords, citta-saṃtāna-, saṃsāra-, saṃskāra-.

Dai Matsui. Two Remarks on the Toyoq Caves and Abita Qur “Abita Cave” — 37
IOM RAS preserves 55 Old Uighur manuscripts related to a group of Buddhist Uighurs who were active around the monastery of abita qur “Abita Cave” at the Toyoq Cave Temples. This paper investigates the location of the “Abita Cave” through Uighur wall inscriptions, which have been discovered at the monastery complex in the West Zone of the Toyoq site. Furthermore, this paper inquires into an Old Uighur toponym mentioned as the hometown of the scribe of one of the 55 manuscripts, which would suggest the pilgrimage range surrounding the Toyoq Caves.
Key words: Old Uighur, Turfan, Toyoq, wall inscriptions, toponym

Tokio Takata. Sound Changes to Avoid Using Taboo Characters — 51
It has been recognized so far that sound change was not used in order to avoid using a taboo character. Nevertheless, we find examples that suggest that there was indeed a habit of changing sounds to avoid using taboo characters in speech. Such sound changes can be seen not only in the case of state taboo, i.e., avoidance of the given names of emperors, but also in the case of secular taboo, e.g., sound changes of the vocabularies for genitals practiced in the Buddhist society. Interesting enough, these sound changes were not a case of temporary substitution but were used as one of the stable pronunciations of the characters.
Key words: taboo characters, sound change, state taboo, secular taboo, Dunhuang Manuscripts, Buddhist society

Du Jianlu. On the Evolution of the Economic Form of Xixia Society (in Chinese) — 58
Before moving eastward, the Tangut had lived a primitive social life for a long time and had not yet entered a class society. Influenced by the civilization of the Han nationality, Tangut quickly made the transition to class society after moving eastward. At the very beginning, the transition developed in the two directions of slavery and feudal system. The Tanguts not only developed slavery, but also inherited and adapted the feudal system in the places where they moved, so that the two economic relations existed in the society of Xixia. With the development of production, slavery was gradually reduced and the feudal economic relationship based on private ownership was gradually expanded. The feudal system was finally established when Li Yuanhao founded the country, but slavery survived and was always associated with Xixia Dynasty. In some remote areas, the primitive clan system was even retained for a long time.
Key words: Primitive communes, Slavery, Feudalism, Tangut, Xixia society

Shintaro Arakawa. On the Tangut Prefix 2da:- — 64
The Tangut language was spoken during the Xixia (Tangut) dynasty (A.D. 1038–1227) in the northwestern part of China.The first emperor (A.D. 1036) established the Tangut script for the language. Although the Tangut language and its script are now extinct, the many documents written in the Tangut script enable us to reconstruct its phonology and grammar. Tangut belongs to the Tibeto- Burman language group (Tangut-Qiang). Its grammar possesses unique features that are not found in either Old Tibetan or Old Burman. One of such features is a “directional prefix”. Six or seven morphemes function as prefixes. Previous works have discussed the change in the function of the prefix from “directional” to “aspect (perfective)”. Some minor Tibeto-Burman languages have morphemes that are similar syllables or functions to Tangut. In this article, we present the outline of the prefixes and a description of the prefix 2da:- with sample sentences and discuss some remarks.
Key words: Tangut, verb phrase, prefix, directional prefix, perfective

Aliy I. Kolesnikov. To Semantics of an Astral Metaphor in the Persian Medieval Texts — 74
The paper deals with attribution on the meaning of an astral metaphor in Persian text related to the miniature, which occurs in the Album murakka (17th cent.) from the Carl Faberge fund, now in the collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS. While analyzing on characteristics of planet Saturn (Kewan) in Zoroastrian Pahlavi compositions and variations of astral metaphor in Iranian national epos Shah-name, the author comes to conclusion, that calligraph Ja‘far used a name Keywan in his distich for pursuit of two tasks: 1) to condemn imitation of Keywan’s abode on top of heads (see ill. 1); 2) to convey his belief that only God is veritable creator of Keywan as all the Universe.
Key words: aiwan, Keywan, metaphor, Anthologie of Zadspram, Iranian Bundahishn, Indian Bundahishn, Dadestan i Menog i Xrad, Shah-name, Vocabularies

Helena P. Ostrovskaia. Studying the Dharma: Moral Qualities of a Disciple — 87
The topic of the article is early medieval Indian Buddhist views on the problem of monks’ selection for the study in monastery universities. Basing on the analysis of Vasubandhu’s treatise “The Encyclopedia of Abhidharma” and the commentary on it (Abhidharmakośa, Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya), the author demonstrates that the criteria of the selection elaborated by Kaśmīr Vaibhāṣikas included only moral qualities of competitors. Only monks inspired with determination to achieve the soteriological aim of the Buddha’s Teaching to “eradicate the root of suffering” could be regarded as appropriate for the study. The object of special attention was virtuous behavior of a competitor and strict observance of monastic vows. Those who were diligent, abstinent from sin, content with minimal material goods (clothes, food, bed, and seat), and see happiness in monastic ascetics and religious practices regarded as worthy competitor.
Key words: Buddhism in early medieval India, Vaibhāṣika, Sarvāstivāda, Vasubandhu, Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya, studying the Dharma (Buddha’s Teaching), moral qualities of a disciple

HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY
TEXTOLOGY, CODICOLOGY, PALEOGRAPHY, ARCHEOGRAPHY

Nie Hongyin. Chinese Stories of Filial Piety in Tangut Literature — 95
Before the formal Chinese compilation of the “Twenty-four filial pieties” appeared in the Yuan era, there were lots of stories concerning family moral code spreading around the Central Kingdom and along the Gansu Corridor. Most of them entered Xixia through the channels of literary record or oral narration. Some of them were translated into Tangut more than once and became the most popular materials used in moral education for youth and in birthday congratulation for aged people. Sometimes the Tangut versions are quite different from the corresponding Chinese originals in their storylines or even in topics. Such fact shows that Tanguts tried their best to make Chinese culture integrate into their own and lots of their Tangut versions were recomposed through oral literature than historical records. Tanguts did not have the real concept of “Twenty-four filial pieties”, but their versions concerning filial piety show the transitory stage shortly before the Yuan era.
Key words: Tangut, Xixia, folklore, Chinese classics, filial piety, translation

Rong Xinjiang. The Earliest Extant Example of Woodblock Printing: the Precept Certificate of the 29th Year of Kaiyuan (741 A.D.) — 118
In this paper, the present author focus on the three printed images of Buddha on the precept certificate from the Dayun Monastery of Dunhuang preserved in St. Petersburg (Дх.02881+Дх.02882). It is the earliest extant example of woodblock printing, with a definite date the 9th day of the 2nd month of the 29th year of Kaiyuan 開元 (A.D. 741), which has long been ignored by the specialists on the history of printing. The certificate was given the monk Daojian from the Great Anguo Monastery from the capital Chang’an, as the representative of the royal monastery. The precept certificate with printed Buddha images has great significance in the history of printing. Based on the facts that Sinicized monasteries in Central Asia and Japan should have the same institution as in Dunhuang and Chang’an, we can assume the certificate with the same woodblock printing was very likely to be spread to the Western Region (Central Asia) as well as to Japan.
Key words: woodblock printing, Buddhist certificate, Chang’an, Dunhuang, IOM RAS, MSS Дх.02881+Дх.02882

Ching Chao-jung, Frantz Grenet. The Golden Poluo in Sogdiana: An In-depth Analysis of the Suishu and Tongdian Passages — 127
This paper is based on our preparation of the seminar ‘Nouvelle approche des sources chinoises (principalement le Tongdian) sur l’Asie centrale a l’ouest des Pamirs’ at the College de France since autumn 2020. We assume that the ‘golden poluo’ (ultimately from Sanskrit pātra- ?) mentioned in the entry on Cao (Ishtīkhan) in the Suishu was a huge container of sharbat or another beverage or soup, serving the poor people and worshippers around the temple of Takhsīch. The big cauldron at Khodja Akhmed Yasawi (Kazakhstan) may be a continuation of this Zoroastrian practice, of which evidence in the Anthologie de Zādspram is detectable. As to the gold poluo presented by the Tsenpo of Tubo to the Tang court in 658 and the silver one by the king of Qiuci in 675, they were both likely wine drinking vessels carefully chosen for celebrating the restoration of the Tang power in the Tarim Basin after the turbulence in the middle 650s and in the late 660s, respectively.
Key words: Central Asia, Sogdiana, Tarim Basin, Kucha, Tibet, Middle Iranian Epigraphy, wine drinking vessels, cauldron

Ogihara Hirotoshi. Miscellany on the Tumshuqese Documents: Part II — 148
The present article is part of the research on Tumshuqese (for Part I see Central Asiatic Journal, 2020, vol. 63, no. 1–2. pp. 11–24). Among Middle Iranian languages, linguistic research on Tumshuqese has been much delayed because of the insufficient documentation, and the lack of the parallel texts written in other languages which leads to the comparative study. However, the secular documents, especially the contracts, are the most important material for the linguistic study of this language in view of the fact [1] that Tumshuqese contracts offer the best preserved texts and [2] that some passages are comparable to the contracts written in other Central Asian languages. In this paper, an attempt will be made to elucidate following Tumshuqese words attested in the secular documents: the numerals tshārsa ‘forty’, hodad₁a ‘seventy’, sod₁u ‘hundred’, dṛd₁a- ‘third’ and words of measure jaha- and k^haa- in addition to a noun dau/do ‘gift’. Among them, the numerals tshārsa ‘forty’ and hodad₁a ‘seventy’ are recognized for the first time. Although other words have been more or less known to scholars, different meaning and/or analysis have been assigned to them.
Key words: Middle Iranian languages, Central Asia, secular documents, contracts, numerals, words of measure

Liu Ruomei. The Study on the Qing Manuscript Copies of the “History of the Russian State” Kept in Russia (in Chinese) — 160
The manuscripts of History of Russian Country, one case and nine volumes, were published in Beijing in the eighth year of Daoguang (1828). They can be rated as the world’s first Russian history in Chinese. There manuscripts are currently in three long-established libraries of St. Petersburg of Russia and there are no collections at home or abroad except for St. Petersburg. History of Russian Country was the Chinese version of the first three volumes of History of the Russian State (a 12-volume national history published in St. Petersburg between the years of 1816–1826) by the first Russian “national historian” N.M. Karamzin. It was compiled and translated by Z.F. Leontjevsky during his stay in Beijing (1820-1830), a student of the tenth Russian Orthodox Mission in Beijing. The Chinese version includes the original author Karamzin’s dedication to the Russian Emperor Alexander I, the foreword, the first volume, the second volume and the third volume (Chapter 7 untranslated). This article compares Leontjevsky’s Chinese version with Karamzin’s original Russian version, revealing its values of literature, of Sino-Russian cultural exchanges, and of Russian historiography in Chinese.
Key words: N.M. Karamzin, Z.F. Leontievsky, “History of the Russian state”, Chinese manuscripts, Russian National Library, Institute of Oriental manuscripts

Stanislav M. Prozorov. An Unattributed Miscellanea of Shi‛a Traditions (hadith) in the Collection of Arabic Manuscripts of IOM RAS — 172
The present research is aimed to identify the unattributed miscellanea of Shi‛a traditions (hadithes) in the collection of the Arabic manuscripts of the IOM RAS. The analysis of Shi‛a tradition’s ithnads and its comparison with the data from other Shi‛a authors (ash-Shaykh as-Saduk, an- Najashi, at-Tihrani, Muhammad at-Tusi) gives a foundation to affirm that it is the miscellanea Sahifat ar-Rida (“Scroll of ar-Rida”). It is one of authoritative and trustworthy sources of Shi‛a religious doctrine, law, cult, moral, ethics. Copies of this miscellanea are kept in the collections of Arabic manuscripts in various countries. In this context the identification of the Saint-Petersburg miscellanea of Shi‛a traditions (hadithes) may be useful for a further preparation of academic critical publication of Sahifat ar-Rida.
Key words: Analysis of ithnads, Arabic manuscripts, identification of the miscellanea of Shi‛a traditions (hadithes), Sahifat ar-Rida, at-Tabarsi

COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES

Vladimir M. Alpatov. E.D. Polivanov on Chinese and Japanese — 179
In 1930 E.D. Polivanov published in co-authorship grammars of Chinese and Japanese. He proposed some original approaches in the both grammars but his approaches were different for these languages. In the Japanese grammar he emphasized the peculiar role of syllables and interpreted all the not independent grammar units as affixes; however he considered the same units as in the “usual languages”: phonemes, morphemes, words, clauses. His approach to Chinese was quite different: Polivanov considered syllables and incorporations the basic units of Chinese instead of phonemes, words and clauses, denied the principal difference of morphology and syntax in his language.
Key words: Polivanov, Chinese, Japanese, phoneme, syllable, grammar, morphology, word, clause, incorporation

Hartmut Walravens. Preface to the Indexes to the Great Chinese Botany Zhiwu Mingshi Tukao 植物名實圖考 of Wu Qijun 吳其濬 — 187
The paper focuses on the efforts of the US botanist Walter T. Swingle to disseminate information on Chinese traditional botanical literature, especially facilitating access to the outstanding Zhiwu mingshi tukao by Wu Qijun. For the latter purpose he prepared indexes and correlation tables to cover the then available different editions in Chinese and Japanese. This research tool was never printed but a small number of photostats was circulated among interested scholars. The paper introduces Swingle’s work and presents his preface in which he underlines the importance of Chinese botanical literature and explains the method behind this index volume. In addition it offers the translation of the original prefaces to the different editions of the Zhiwu mingshi tukao, prepared by such scholars as Jiang Kanghu, the historian of literature and Yuan Tongli, later director of the National Library of China.
Key words: Zhiwu mingshi tukao, Wu Qijun (1789–1847), Swingle, Walter Tennyson (1871–1952), Botanical literature in China

Olga V. Vasilyeva. Chinese Album from Paris in the National Library of Russia — 207
This article deals with the album of Chinese drawings produced for export in the late 18th — early 19th cc. Originating from Guangzhou, 84 color pictures represent craftsmen, petty traders and street actors. Sixteen of them concur by subject and composition with the engravings published by G.H. Mason who named Pu Qwa as an artist of the originals. Similar drawings can be found in the album of Östasiatiska Museet in Stockholm; other ones, close to ours in style, have been included into the album of Capitan Lisianskii. The “Parisian album” was compiled and bound in Paris; it was on sale in the Dondey-Dupré bookshop, and in 1828 Heinrich Julius Klaproth inscribed it with his hand certifying the fact that the drawings had been produced by a Chinese painter (what was probably doubted). It is still unclear how the album reached the Imperial Public library (National library of Russia of today) in Saint-Petersburg. However, it had happened before 1852 when the academician Bernhard Dorn published his catalogue in which the album was described under the number 798.
Key words: Chinese export drawings, Kanton (Guangzhou), Pu Qwa, H.J. Klaproth, National Library of Russia

Kirill M. Bogdanov. IOM RAS Tangut Fund History: Hypotheses Based on Some New Facts — 221
In this article some new facts and hypotheses concerned the IOM, RAS Tangut collection’s cataloguing and description in the period of 1910s–1930s are presented. This data is based on research of description records in the No. 1 and No. 2 inventory books of the Tangut Fund. The main idea assumes that along with N. Nevsky and A. Dragunov other Asiatic Museum researchers could participate in the initial stage of the Tangut Fund inventory work. This hypothesis is based on the obvious difference in handwritings especially in records of inventory book No. 1. It should be noted that all evidences about this period in the Tangut Fund research history are both precise and exiguous in the same time. It is enough to mention the absence of the necessary dates of recordings and names of persons who made it. Considering the whole history of P. Kozlov collection and great interest to collection’s research can we assume that more than one or two well-known researchers of AM described it too? Maybe yes. Because, apart from “incognito” hand in the first inventory book, we find oblique or indirect confirmation to it in personal correspondence of N. Nevsky himself. So, despite the significant and basic contribution of Nevsky to first cataloguing work with Tangut books biggest collection, it is logically to propose that it should be “collective” work too. If we follow the research history of Kozlov archeological findings after Khara-Khoto and then, we recognize the rightfulness of this assumption.
Key words: Asiatic Museum, Tangut Fund, IOM RAS, Tangut studies, P. Kozlov’s collection, Khara-Khoto